Sonic Boom AU Short Story
by Lil-prime9
Summary: In an alternate universe was a girl, who suffered from NIDS attempting to live her life to the fullest. Then tragedy struck at the Space Colony ARK and was raided by GUN forces because of what her grandfather had created in secret. However, fate had other plans for her as she is thrown into another dimension 50 years later.


He couldn't fathom how this happened, but it did. That same afternoon he was out on Seaside Island inside the deepest part of a dense forest thinking of a new scheme to defeat his arch enemy, Sonic, and would often mumble to himself whilst strolling down a path. He was in deep in thought when suddenly a blinding flash of light took over the area around him, blinding him in the process. Startled by this strange occurrence, and immediately assumed he was being ambushed by his enemy. He didn't know who, but he was prepared, taking out his blaster from behind his belt and points it to where the source of light had emanated. Slowly making his way towards a bush, then he runs through it and yells out.

"I've gotcha red-handed! -" but was greeted by more greenery. He was confused at the lack of any presence of life in the area, besides a couple of birds above the trees. He could've sworn there would be someone ready to attack him while his guard was down.

Eggman looked around the area for any signs of mobians, but there were none. He must've imagined it then. As he put away his weapon, he could've sworn he heard a moan not too far from where he stood, curious, he approaches a bush and walks right through it. On the other side was a small creek below but that's not what he was focusing on.

Sprawled on the dry ground of the creek was a young girl with blonde hair. The blonde had on a blue polka dot, knee-length dress with the sleeves being three-quarter length. She had her back facing him—unconscious.

He didn't think twice before scurrying over to the blonde, carefully scooped her up in his arms, bridal-style. Summoning his Egg mobile and headed straight towards his lair.

Fast forward a couple of minutes later, here he was, with a girl in his arms as he was nearing his lair which was just outside the Coast of Seaside Island. His arrival had instantly caused the large entrance doors to open which allowed him to fly inside with little effort. As he now entered inside the HQ room by feet, his presence was acknowledged by his two robots Orbot and Cubot.

"Welcome back, Doctor!" Orbot exclaimed cheerfully whilst Cubot followed suit.

"It's so good to have you bac-" but before the cube-shaped robot could even finish Dr. Eggman cut him off.

"Get the infirmary ready, IMMEDIATELY!" he demanded.

They exchanged a look of confusion before realizing that their master was carrying a young blonde in his arms. This was enough to send them in a panic, scurrying off to prepare the infirmary with Eggman following right behind them. He soon arrived and almost immediately he sets the young girl down on the table as the nurse robot went straight to work.

For the entirety of his life, he had never felt more worried in one's well-being, besides himself, until this very moment. All he did now was watch from behind the glass as the nurse was examining the young girl's condition.

-x-

Her eyes shot open as she now sat upright from the bed, panting heavily. There was literal sweat trailing down from her face and her heart was beating at a faster rate than normal. Soon enough her breathing slowed along with her heartbeat as it returned to its normal state. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, in doing so caused all the tension in her body to relax. This moment of relief felt nice and she was ready to go back to bed until she realized something was off.

She was in her bedroom except, this wasn't her bedroom at all. The more she looked around her new surroundings as she was slowly beginning to feel terrified. She decided to brush her fears aside and investigate.

So, she got up from the bed and slowly made her way around the room. It was dark too, so she had trouble navigating her way to the door. Eventually, she reaches the door and it slides right open for her. A sense of nervousness was overwhelming, but she proceeded and poked her head out. The hallways looked completely different and it was lacking scientific personnel around. It was so...barren. She was most definitely not in the ARK, but then where was she exactly?

She took a few steps away from the door, which closed behind her, as she now strolled down the empty hallways. It seemed like it could go on forever but to her relief, she stumbled upon on what appeared to be a living room. For such a medium sized room it felt welcoming. She stepped inside and was curiously looking around.

Everything around this place was neat and clean. It didn't have much furniture, to begin with, but for a room of this size, complimented nicely. She was admiring the equipment off to the side of the room when she heard a voice just outside the door. Before she even had time to react and hide the door had already slid open revealing a tall man wearing a red jacket with yellow cuffs, a front flap attached to one of the buttons and two flap hanging from the back, blue pince-nez glasses, white gloves, a set of gray goggles with flappable green lenses, gray pants and a pair of black boots with high rims. On his right wrist, he has his wrist controller of some kind.

The man stood there, staring directly at her. She simply stood there, frozen, not knowing how to react to this unfamiliar face. His neutral yet surprised expression soon washed away and was replaced with utter relief.

"You're awake, finally, I was beginning to think that you would never wake up." he took a few steps forward and with this she instantly backed away, unsure of his presence was trusted.

He quickly took notice of this and raised his gloved hands reassuringly. "Now, now it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he took one more step forward hoping that she would not move from where she stood, but to his dismay she back away.

"I'm just gonna-" he stopped and laughs nervously. "Stay riiight here."

She remains silent and was maintaining eye-contact with him. This situation was freaking her out, where was her grandpa when she most needed him. Then out of nowhere, these two small robots appeared right beside the man, one of them had a round body with a red and black color scheme whilst the other beside it was slightly taller with a cube-shaped body but in yellow and black.

"Aha! You found her doctor; I was afraid she might have wandered off deep within the halls." the round robot said. The cube one shaking his head in agreement.

"Look at her Orbot. She's so cute!" exclaimed the cube-shaped robot.

The presence of these three strangers made her feel more afraid than she was, and slowly backed away. This reaction caused the cube-shaped robot to move forward saying.

"No, no. it's okay!" the cube one wanted to approach her but the round one prevented him from doing so.

"Can't you see you're scaring her!" the round one remarked but this caused a scuffle between the two robots. It was getting out of hand and the more violent they became the more frightened the girl was. A bubbling surge of anger was forming from within him until he suddenly snapped at the two robots.

"YOU IDIOTS CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE FRIGHTENING HER MORE!" his roaring voice had finally gotten through to the robot's metallic skull as they stared up at him with their fists in mid-swing.

However, this didn't go too well, and the young girl was whimpering and had crawled under the table where a monitor stood. He felt a pang of guilt coursed through him as he slowly approached where she had crawled and knelt to see the trembling girl with her hands covering her ears. Just the mere sight of her would make anyone feel like they deserved a punch in the face.

He remained there coaxing her out of the table and reassuring her that they meant no harm and that everything was alright. It took about fifteen minutes before she finally came out of her hiding spot. He made sure to make her feel as comfortable as possible around the lair. Once the day ends, he'll make sure to scold those two obnoxious robots for scaring the poor girl to death.

-x-

The weeks had turned into months since her sudden arrival. At the very start of her stay at the lair she was skeptical about her new surroundings, it was a scary change for her but eventually, she had warmed up to them especially Eggman. She learned a lot about him and was shocked to realize he was also another Robotnik, which makes them family, and from that day one she had started calling him Uncle Ivo.

Ever since that day, she is always seen walking up and down the halls along with two of Uncle Ivo's personal robots; Orbot and Cubot. The robots immediately took a liking towards her and enjoy her presence more than anything else. Both became faithful towards her and not because she is Eggman's cousin, it was her overall kindness towards them. The way she cared for them had won their robotic hearts.

Fast forward a couple of months, on a Sunday afternoon. She was enjoying her time in the garden, alone, which she didn't mind. The two robots weren't there with her; instead, they were with Uncle Ivo helping him create a video game. She couldn't wait until the final product was done!

Suddenly there was a loud bang, which caused the place to quake momentarily. She instantly rushes out of the garden and was heading straight towards the HQ room. Upon arrival, the room was in disarray with a large hole on the metal walls that were broken into the exterior walls. Large chunks of metal were scattered across the room and there was dust around the air. However, that's not what she was focusing on, in fact, her eyes stared directly at a familiar face, a black hedgehog with red stripes on his quills. He looked...different.

"Where is he?" his crimson eyes directed at the two robots and were completely unaware of a third party watching from the entrance doorway.

"Uhh, where's who?" Cubot's attempts to distract the hedgehog were unsuccessful as the hedgehog was ready to clobber them.

Orbot turns his head to see the blonde standing there and he panicked. "Elsie?! What are you doing –you must leave immediately!"

The hedgehog follows the round robot's gaze into the direction he was staring and was meet with a human girl right before him. Their eyes met momentarily but somehow it felt like forever. Then in a flash, he had punched both robots so hard that their heads popped right off. Before the black hedgehog left, he took another glance at the girl before flying up—breaking the interior, leaving a gaping hole on the ceiling.

"Well... that could've gone better," Orbot said, somehow his head being functional after being literally beheaded. "Elsie, are you alright? – Elsie?" his head moves, and he sees her standing there, gazing up at the ceiling with tears spilling down her cheeks.

Her entire body was trembling, her lips were quivering, the heart was racing, and her face, arms, and legs felt like it was being pricked by many needles. The room was swirling right before her eyes and she could hear herself hyperventilating until she couldn't catch her breath. What was happening to her? Was she having a heart attack? Was she dying? She couldn't hear herself think anymore and failed to hear the worried voices of Orbot and Cubot. Attempting to calm her down had proven quite challenging; eventually, they had to call in the robot nurse for help.

-x-

The sun that was once above the sky was gone and now the moon had risen, shining down at the earth below. It's been hours since the incident occurred, and no matter how many times Orbot and his partner tried to coax her out of her room, despite what happened she refused to leave the comfort of her room. However, before they left, she stopped them and requested them not disclose what happened to which they begrudgingly agreed then left.

After they left the room, she was left alone for the night, but she was unable to sleep. Due to the memories of the ARK plaguing her thoughts—haunting her. She decided to leave the comfort of her room.

It was late in the night, which would explain the lack of liveliness down the hallways. There would be robots, excluding Orbot and Cubot, going up and down the halls with materials for her uncle's inventions. She always wondered what he really does with those.

She took the elevator up waiting momentarily before it stopped, and its doors slid open. Once she stepped outside immediately, she was greeted by a gust of wind tickling her skin. She had to hold down the hems of her dress since the winds up on the balcony were quite strong.

For once she was able to experience the crisp air to look up at the stars above her and not the other way around. It was a new and refreshing experience. A smile formed on her face as her gaze never left the stars, admiring its beauty. Then that moment of contentment had slowly dissipated and there was a flash of a memory replaying right before her.

_She was standing in front of the glass of the ARK s control room with her gaze focused on the earth below. Oh, how she longed to visit the planet when is finally cured of her illness instead she's here. There were moments where she was sick and tired of being cooped up in the ARK, wanting to be free and wander around without having the doctors constantly monitoring her 24/7. Had it not been for Shadow, a creation that her grandpa was working on for a cure to her illness, she would've certainly gone insane!_

_His company allowed her to finally roam freely around the ARK instead of being at the hospital wing for long periods of time. They're always together whether it's getting a check-up at the hospital, from helping her grandpa with his inventions, they are never seen apart. She and he grew exceptionally close throughout the years. They even shared the same room! Well, with some exceptions such as; sleeping in separate beds, sharing the same shower and such, and having their own toiletry. The lists could go on._

_She turns her head, looking down to see Shadow standing next to her. A smile formed on her lips as she now sat right beside him and couldn't help but notice he had moved an inch closer to her. She didn't say anything and continued to stare out from the glass._

_'Earth looks beautiful from up here.' she turns to look at Shadow. 'Wouldn't you agree?'_

_He briefly glances to her from the corner of his eyes before looking back at the planet. 'Yeah... It does.'_

_'Maybe one day, whenever grandpa finds a cure, I'd like to visit earth with you, Shadow.'_

_This made him turn, his crimson eyes meeting her blue ones. It was faint but she could see a smile form on the corner of his lips. He grabs a hold of her hand and says, 'One day. Then we can live a peaceful life together.'_

Elsie blinks, realizing she's back at the top of the lair. There was a moment when she genuinely thought she had woken up from a dream and everything that happened on the ARK wasn't real... but this was her reality. This is real.

She reaches into a small compartment from within her dress, which was on the fabric inside her chest, and pulls out a photograph; in the photo was she [on the right] and next to her [on the left] was Shadow. They were smiling at each other from the corner of their eyes.

Without any warning, a strong gust of wind blows right on her which causes the photograph to slip out of her fingers. She panics, chasing right after the rouge photo, and was desperately running around in circles. After chasing around the photo, she lunged and successfully caught it. Although, she took one quick glance below, realizing she's at the very edge. The top of the lair had no safety bars, no railing, so anyone could easily fall to their untimely death.

Elsie attempts to force her weight back since she's practically standing at the very edge, but the strong winds weren't in her favor. She was losing her balance and was flailing her arms to keep herself upright but was failing as the winds grew stronger. So, this is it. This is how she's going to die. No. She wasn't ready to die like this!

As if her prayers had been answered, a strange force pulls her back, which resulted in her falling on her butt. She was somehow a couple of feet away from the edge, odd. Elsie blinks before exhaling in relief and was glad that she didn't ultimately fell to her death.

Her eyes were now on the photo in her hands, a wave of sadness dawns on her. Then out of nowhere, a drop of water hits the photograph. It couldn't have been raining; the clouds weren't present. Those were her tears, she was crying. Her face scrunched up, more tears falling, emotional anguish finally engulfing her.

"It... _*hic*_ should've been... _*hic*_ me!" she said through her uncontrollable sobbing, and then she whimpers out, "'I'm sorry... Shadow..." She hunches forward and presses the photo against her chest, wallowing.

Through her uncontrollable cries, a figure approaches her from behind, not hearing the footsteps, and then wraps their arms around her, comforting her. She couldn't think properly but the first thing that went through her mind is that it was her uncle, without opening her eyes, turns around and hugs him, crying onto the crook of his neck. Her uncle felt soft; it must be him wearing his pajamas. Eventually, her sobs died down until exhaustion got the best of her and fell asleep in his arms.

-x-

A soft moan escapes through her lips, rubbing her eyes whilst stretching her body. Sitting upright on her bed and opens her eyes to notices she was still wearing the same outfit from last night, plus she was in her room. How did she get back last night? Everything was a blur, but she did remember almost falling to the top of the lair. Maybe she was so exhausted last night that she couldn't even remember walking back. For all, she could know she could have been sleepwalking!

Elsie gets out of bed, not bothering to change into something different before heading out and wanders down the halls. There were many robots going up and down the halls today, it's nice to see some liveliness around the building. She abruptly stops, not to wave at the robots, because she could overhear a conversation not too far from where she was. As she got closer the clearer the voices became, it was coming from the HQ room. Curiosity is what drove her and pokes her head from the corner of the door, which was conveniently wide open. Immediately she could see Orbot and Cubot standing right beside her uncle...who was talking to a black hedgehog.

"You want to stay over?! Haha, I can't believe it's finally happening! OH, I just got Goosebumps." Eggman said excitingly, however, the black hedgehog wasn't all too thrilled in his excitement and clarifies.

"Just because I'm staying here doesn't make me a part of your pathetic team. And don't think I had forgotten after you've deceived me, eventually you'll get what you deserve... in due time."

Eggman laughs nervously, pulling on the collar of his shirt, he clears his throat. "Right, um..."

Cubot was slowly losing interest in their conversation and has been absentmindedly looking around the room, not even trying to listen in. His eyes landed on the door, instantly noticing Elsie's head peaking at the doorway. He waves cheerfully. "Elsie!"

All their heads turn, eyes were now on her, especially the black hedgehog's gaze. Their eyes meet causing her to freeze in place; her heart had skipped a beat in excitement. She couldn't explain it... but she's happy to see him, yet why does she feel so...conflicted?

"Ah, Elsie!" Eggman says with delight. "I was just about sent off these two to look for you! Anyways, we have a special guest, my dear. Allow me to introduce you to him, this is-" Elsie cuts him off.

"Shadow,"

Eggman blinks. "OH, so you know who he is? This is wonderful!" he starts to ramble on.

Her uncle's voice dies down, all she could hear now was a high-pitched noise, which only happens whenever there's no sound in one room and is the only noise available for the ears to pick up. The world was spinning, and it was becoming too overwhelming. She absentmindedly back away from the doorway and without a second thought she made a beeline back to her room. They called out to her, but she kept on running, eventually reaching her room and locking the doors behind her.

She was breathing heavily; her body wasn't built for these kinds of exercises. It meant that she gets exhausted easily and quickly. She makes her way towards her bed, ignoring the pleading calls from outside her door. Her shoes were off - grabbed the pillow - crawled in bed and was in a fetal position.

There was an argument outside the door and eventually, everything went silent. They must've left. She squeezed the pillow and buried her face into it, taking in the faint scent of lavender before letting out a muffled sigh. When she muffled into the pillow, she didn't notice someone seemingly appearing inside the room. She felt someone staring at her, so she poked her head out from the pillow and there stood Shadow. Their eyes met and she instantly sat up from the bed, startled. Wondering how he even came into the room since the door was locked.

Her body refused to move, frozen in place and was afraid to even breathe at one point when he approached the bed. He now stood right in front of the bed standing a couple of inches away, not breaking eye-contact with her. The look he gave her just now...she couldn't really explain it right away...he looked conflicted.

Something within her encouraged to make the first move, so she set her pillow aside and was now keeled on the floor to his level as she reached out to him nervously. He didn't flinch away; this made her feel much more confident. As her hand neared his cheek, before she could inch closer his ears twitched which caused her to flinch slightly. Her hand was now cupping his left cheek gently. Almost immediately, Shadow had tilted his head towards her touch longingly closing his eyes while doing so.

_'He's alive. Shadow's really here...'_ It wasn't her imagination after all. She was overwhelmed with emotion and unknowingly she had shed a couple of tears.

Shadow had his eyes open to see the tears streaming down her cheeks and he reaches out to wipe them away. Then she suddenly had pulled him into a hug. Shadow took a moment to recover before he returned the hug. This warm feeling in his chest was all new to him; it reminded him of when he was with her. He had broken his promise to protect this world, almost destroying their universe entirely. All because he wanted his arch enemy gone for good, but he's glad his plan ultimately failed in the end. If his plan had succeeded, then he wouldn't have stumbled upon her.

_'Maria… I'm sorry for breaking your promise but this time I'll make things right. For her.'_


End file.
